The south gap in Chicago's lakefront path

A look at the two-mile strip on the South Side where the lakefront path is interrupted

Courtesy of Friends of the Parks

Closing the southern gap in Chicago's lakefront trail may prove easier than the northern gap.

Expanding Calumet Park

According to Eleanor Roemer, spokeswoman for Friends of the Parks, it could be as easy as transfering rights between two public agencies.

The Illinois Port Authority owns the rights to 190 acres of land directly north of Calumet Park.

About 100 acres go unused, and the state could transfer that land to the Chicago Parks District, Roemer said.

The Port Authority uses the triangle-shaped piece of land directly to the east as a Confined Disposal Facility for the toxic dredge that must be removed from the Calumet River every few years.

That facility is under contract to be "capped" -- or covered with environmentally safe fill -- and made into park land.

But the Port Authority has not yet found an alternate place to store future dredge, so it has not yet capped the facility.

Re-forging the USX site

The city has looked at redeveloping the old USX site beginning at 79th Street and stretching to the mouth of the Calumet River near 91st Street.

The USX site has been cleared and zoned for residential development, but the build out is not scheduled until 2040.

Of the 30 total miles of lakefront owned by the Chicago Parks system, 26 are continuous.

A small section of land separates the trail in Jackson Park from where it picks back up at Rainbow Beach Park.

Planners are looking at adding a fishing lagoon, beaches and possibly an island south of Rainbow Beach Park.

Property rights

Residents and the city disagree on who owns the property rights to the lakefront.

Private owners believe they own the rights up to the waterline, while the city contends that the lake bottom is owned in trust by all Chicago residents.